But while automation is increasing in marketing operations across the board, results aren’t always growing at the same pace.

Imagine investing into a sophisticated, expensive automation platform only to see little or no meaningful business growth. That’s surely a disappointment to any marketing leader or business owner who bought into the automation hype.

So if you’re one of the people who’s been disappointed by the results you’ve seen so far, you’re no doubt wondering why some businesses are taking off while you’re stuck in the slow lane.

Three Big Misconceptions about Automation

There are a variety of reasons marketing automation can fail to deliver the “promised” returns. Many of them stem from a few misconceptions about what automation really is and what it brings to the table for marketing.

Misconception 1: Automation Can “Save” a Lackluster Marketing Program

Automation is an excellent compliment to your overall marketing strategy. It can fundamentally transform the way you engage customers and grow revenue.

But it will utterly fail if you think of it as a magic wand that solves all your marketing problems. If your marketing is fundamentally broken to begin with, no amount of fancy tools and expensive systems can save it.

Misconception 2: Automation Reduces Your Need for Marketers

In most fields, automation has historically dramatically reduced the amount of manpower needed to accomplish a task. One need only glance at manufacturing or agriculture over the last century to see what a profound effect it can have.

Sure, it might reduce the time a professional spends doing repetitive, menial tasks. But marketers aren’t just workers on an assembly line; that extra capacity must then be put towards analytical, strategic, and creative thought if you want to maintain a competitive edge.

If you’ve viewed automation as a replacement for quality marketing talent, you’re in trouble.

Misconception 3: Once It’s Set Up, Marketing Automation Can Run on Its Own

Automation isn’t a fire-and-forget system where you simply set up your processes, press the start button, and then sit back while the money flows in.

In reality, automated marketing systems need constant maintenance and monitoring to ensure they’re working properly. And to get the best value from them, you need talented marketing analytics staffing or marketing automation consultants periodically making improvements and optimizations to your systems.

Businesses that try to replace their marketing automation staffing and agencies with digital programs and tools are in for an unpleasant surprise.

In any craft, a tool is only as good as the artisan wielding it. Marketing automation is no exception. So if you’ve been investing in automation but not seeing any results, the problem probably isn’t in the technology, but the professionals responsible for setting it up and maintaining it.

Most modern automation systems are fairly simple to set up. But they still require the nuanced touch of someone who’s both tech savvy and fully understands the customer experience.

Maybe your team just isn’t familiar enough with automation concepts and technology to take advantage of it. In that case, you could consider reinforcing it with marketing automation staffing or training it with marketing automation consultants.

Interesting article! There is quite a lot of myths about marketing automation, but thinking that it will do the job for you is certainly the worst. There’re also so many solutions and going for the best is not always the option. It’s a better idea to check out what different platforms have to offer and see if the solution fits our needs. We’ve started using that way GetResponse. Marketing automation seems daunting and in some cases it is costly, but if you’ve got a good strategy in place and people working with it to constantly improve it then I think that there’s a chance to achieve success.

I agree, Martha. Marketing automation pays off only when it’s done consistently, by the entire team, and with a good strategy. But it’s surprising to me how many marketers today still do not understand that automation is not a way to blast people with uniform messages, and that it’s not “one fit for all” type of deal. You’d think that in 2017 we would have a deeper understanding of how to empower your marketing with automation the right way…